First-year residency positions in orthopaedic surgery remain desirable, according to results from Match Day 2005, a rite of passage for medical school seniors.

The 2005 Match broke records this year for the number of residency positions offered and filled-a total of 24,012 positions were available of which 22,221 were filled. Overall, 78% of all applicants matched to a first-year residency program through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), and nearly 83% of these were paired with one of their top three choices. More than 14,700 US medical school seniors applied for residency programs, the highest number in almost 20 years. The NRMP also receives applications from graduates of foreign medical schools.

 

Orthopaedic surgery is desirable

For 2005, there were 610 first-year orthopaedic surgery residencies offered through the Match program. Of these, 605 were filled, 560 by US medical school seniors. By comparison, in 2004 there were 589 such positions offered, of which 588 were filled, including 548 by US medical students. The number of residencies in internal medicine (IM) and pediatrics also increased, while family practice positions continue to decline.

"Many of the surgical specialties are always competitive," comments Mona Signer, director of the Washington, DC-based NRMP. "We are also seeing increasing interest in dermatology, anesthesiology, and even diagnostic radiology, which may be due to lifestyle issues." Such specialties may be appealing to "physicians and medical students who are more interested in having a life outside of medicine," she explains.

 

Rheumatology fellows wanted

"Internal medicine continues to hold its own, but many residents who go into IM end up subspecializing," Signer says. In addition to the Match for first- and second-year residency positions, the NRMP's Specialty Matching Services conducts matches for advanced residency or fellowship positions.

According to Signer, 2005 marks the first year that rheumatology is a subspecialty in the fellowship match. As of now, there are 122 positions being offered for 2006, and matches will be made on June 22, 2005.

George Ehrlich, MD, adjunct professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, began practicing rheumatology in 1958 and urges young fellows to follow in his footsteps. "Those who are adventuresome should go into rheumatology, because there is still so much to be discovered that it's like seafaring during the time of Columbus," he says. "There are diseases yet to be defined correctly and adequately. It's a voyage of exploration, and at the same time, it's immensely satisfying."

"Rheumatologists have an opportunity to get to know their patients as individuals more so than other specialists," Dr. Ehrlich says. "I've described rheumatologists as medical psychiatrists. They need to understand their patients as people who play many roles and [to] help them achieve a fulfilling life."

"Unfortunately, rheumatology is not the most popular specialty because [medical students] are trained to like gadgets," he tells CIAOMed. "In rheumatology, there are very few definitive tests and nothing in the way of gadgetry." But the "specialty has grown in recent years, we can now do something about most diseases, and they are interesting diseases," Dr. Ehrlich says.

Reference:

National Resident Matching Program [press release]. Washington, DC: March 17, 2005.